


Stay the night

by Fawkespryde



Series: Bleed it out (dark one-shots) [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF, Sideshow - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Some Suspense, good shit, got inspiration from goosebumps, its a 'lets be degenerate teens and break into a haunted house' fic, remember goosebumps?, some heavy atmosphere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawkespryde/pseuds/Fawkespryde
Summary: Bed walked through the grass while pulling out his phone and began thumbing through his contact list before he found Criken’s name. He knew the ringtone that his friend had assigned him years ago and smiled as he could mentally picture ‘Banana phone’ playing while Criken was exploring the old house. His smile slowly faded however as he heard it play, much closer than he had imagined. Bed looked down between his feet and saw the phone sitting there innocently in the grass.It flashed his name on the front screen and Bed dropped to one knee to pick it up. He glanced around the front yard confused and not seeing Criken at all, he looked back up at the house.Did Criken really go inside?





	Stay the night

**Author's Note:**

> For a truly atmospheric read, I recommend playing this song when you see the bolded asterisk marked in the story:
> 
> (*) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IrJzEQLKHE

***

“Do it, you won’t.” Buck prodded the tallest of the bunch with his elbow and gave him a little shove towards the old iron fence that creaked as the window moved it. He continued to poke at Criken till the boy relented and rose his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Alright, alright. I’ll go touch the front door.”

Tomato gave a short halting laugh, his weight leaned on Bed’s shoulder. He looked all too amused at Criken’s cowardly expression and showed no qualms about prodding fun at him. “No we didn’t say touch the door. We said to knock on it. Like fully rap on the door and see who comes out, you coward.”

“You want me to knock and see if anyone is home?” Criken sputtered and looked back and forth between his friends. He pointed at the house and then himself as if to get his point across. He was white as a sheet at the idea of some crooked old woman chasing after him if he did so.

Bed chuckled at his expression. “What’s the matter? You’re not scared are you?” He paused to take in Criken’s jittering hands and laughed even louder. “Oh my god, you are scared. You’re acting like such a big baby. Just go up and come back.”

“I don’t know..” Criken walked over and grabbed ahold of the gate. He looked through the bars and up at the vine covered front of the house with fear in his eyes.

“Come onnnn… It won’t hurt to knock. Who knows how long it’s been abandoned for anyways.” Bed urged him with a wave of his hands before a sly look took hold of his features. He shrugged and glanced over at Buck and Tomato. “Unless of course, you do want to pussy out. I’m sure we can figure out something more embarrassing for you to do later.”

Criken took his hands off the fence and looked over his shoulders at the rest of his friends. “No no... It’s fine. I can do this.” He sounded more like he was convincing himself and he bounced on the tip of his toes nervously. With a deep breath, he pushed the gate forward and winced at the creaking it made at the movement.

The iron gate continued to groan as it swung open and it hit the stone wall behind it with a loud bang. Criken jolted at the sounds and looked behind him, seeing Tomato and Buck snickering at each other. He furrowed his brows and flipped them the bird before pressing forward. His shoes crunched over the dried grass of the front lawn as he walked through the overgrowth. Once at the foot of the front steps, he looked upwards and took in the state of the house. The wood looked woodworm eaten and the paint was peeling off the door and window frames.

He looked up to the large round window that made up the centerpiece of the second floor and had to do a double take as the curtains seemed to move. There was a human figure standing there but it was too dark to tell much about them. Criken looked back at the other three and pointed at the second floor, ready to shout at them that he was right and the place was haunted but his teeth gritted at the sight of them sitting around outside the gate, scrolling through their phones and not even looking at him.

“Oh of course they aren’t paying attention.. Why would they...“ Criken snarked under his breath and stomped up the front steps, uncaring for the creak of wood under his shoes. He approached the door and rose a hand up to knock but paused at the motion at the slight opening exposing the hallway. The door wasn’t fully closed and that thought tickled the back of his brain in recollection. “Funny, I swear this was closed when we got here..”

Criken pushed the door all the way open with his palm and took in the long dark hallway leading further into the property. The specks of dust lit up by the sunlight made the place look even further like an undisturbed tomb of sorts. No one must have walked the halls in a very, very long time. He saw a flash of something on the ground and rose a brow as he recognized the glint of sunlight on gold.

“Wait, isn’t that my-” Criken barely glanced at his bare wrist before he walked all the way into the hall. He ignored the groan of the floor as he approached his watch, sitting innocently on the floor. Kneeling down, Criken went to pick it up and his hand recoiled at the temperature. It was freezing like it had been sitting in the snow all day and not on his wrist moments ago.

He rubbed his two fingers together and a confused sound left him at the sight of grey smeared on his thumb and index. His watch was covered in a thin layer of dust. No, he brought his hand up to his face and sniffed, curling his nose up at the heavy scent of charcoal and ash. “What is going on here.”

The front door slowly creaked to a close behind him and with a gentle click, cut off the sunlight that had been seeping in. Criken barely managed a yelp as he was suddenly submerged in darkness. He looked around in confusion and grabbed his watch, standing up on his feet with a startled wobble. His hand extended to his sides till he found the curling wallpaper. He turned to face the direction he came from with gritted teeth. “Oh you guys are fucking hilarious.”

“Very funny. Absolutely hilarious.. Yeah, where do I got to turn in my friends? I want new ones…” He followed the hallway with his hand on the way, feeling the doorway that led into the living room that he had passed when he came in initially. And then there was another one and another door. Criken paused and swallowed heavily, groping along the wallpaper with both hands. Panic was starting to set in the more he walked and he passed two more doors. His heart was thudding heavily in his chest and Criken closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves, trying to think logically about the situation. “Guys, please.. This really isn’t funny..”

**(*)**

There was no way he had gone so far into the house that he was passing numerous rooms and there was no way that there was as many doors as he was passing by. It was a trick of the mind, it had to be. With that, he let out a long breath and continued to push forward. He could hear his heart beating heavy in his chest as he moved forward and then he heard it. The familiar sound of piano keys.

Criken stopped, tilting his head as if trying to figure out if what he was hearing was a figment of his imagination. But it wasn’t just one note. The piano playing had started off slow but gently picked up, coming from deeper in the house. It bounced off the walls and seemed to fill the silence all around him.

It was a melody he had never heard before and sounded so sad, there was so much heart being placed into that song and he felt tears at the corners of his eyes. He had to blink them away but even that did little to calm him. A great feeling of misery had buried itself deep into his chest and he couldn’t stop the flow even with the back of his sleeve.

He fully turned to face the hallway and found himself taking his other hand off the wall, his fingers trembling as though trying to clasp at something. There was something missing but unlike his watch, it didn’t feel like something he could just claim. No, it was something deep within himself that was just out of his reach but he could touch it, if he was willing to go further.

Just a little bit..

“Further-” He whispered, the sound lost in the volume of the music playing.

Trepidation and fear seemed to melt from his body and he let out a scared gasp before his feet started to take him further into the house, towards the music and away from any semblance of escape. Criken’s body swayed as he walked and all stress fell from his shoulders, his watch falling from limp fingers as he wandered deeper into the darkness, blind from his tears and yet knowing exactly where he was going. He just had to go a bit further. It was in reach, just a bit further..

***

“Hey guys.” Buck came back from the other side of the gate and gave Bed and Tomato a worried glance. “Criken isn’t at the front of the house.”

Tomato looked up from his phone and shoved the device back into his pocket. He seemed unconvinced and rose a brow at Buck as though expecting it to be a bit. “Are you sure he’s not just waiting around the corner, ready to jump out at us with those freakishly long limbs of his?”

“I’m telling you. I looked down both sides of the house. He’s not there.” Buck puffed out on cheek and crossed his arms over his chest. “And before you ask, no, I don’t think he’s in the backyard either. Those fences are all chained up and shit.”

Bed elbowed Tomato and got up from his seated position on the ground. “Come on, we all know this is just his way of getting back at us. Let’s humour him so we can hit the arcade.” He eyed the time on his phone, noting that there was only an hour left of sunlight. “Preferably before it gets dark and Buck’s mom hangs him from the roof for being out so late.”

“I say fuck that. He wants to play hide and go seek in a haunted house then by all means.” Tomato seemed less interested in going after their friend than everyone else was but extended his hand out for Bed to take..

Bed grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet but not before smirking down at him in that teasing way of his. “Why Tomato, if I didn’t know any better I would assume that you are the one who is scared.”

“I’m not scared. I just have a healthy respect for old, decrepit looking buildings. It’s why I don’t sneak out with you and Buck to go on your night jaunts through the cemetery.”

Buck rocked back and forth on his heels, with both hands pressed to his mouth. He gave a dramatic gasp and looked between the two of them. “Tomato! How did you know? Who’s been telling secrets?!”

They all glanced at each other with varying degrees of suspicion. Bed looked like he came to a realization and groaned, pinching at his brow. He wore an amused expression despite everything. “Criken..” He sighed, knowing that he was the only other one aware of their little night time wanders in the graveyard.

“Of course he would be the one to tell you. That guy can’t keep a secret… to save… his… life?” Buck trailed off, his gaze at the house. More specifically, he was looking at the second floor window of the house. He glanced back at his friends who were eying him with confused expressions.

“What’s wrong?” Tomato followed his gaze and looked up at the rounded window but saw nothing but white curtains.

Buck looked frustrated and threw his hands up in the air. “Seriously?! No one saw that?” He pointed back at the window and Bed just shrugged as their eyes met.  
“Buck, there’s nothing up there.”

“Guys that was Criken!” Buck glanced back and forth between his two friends. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked determined to get them to understand that was he saw wasn't an illusion. “He was literally up there smirking down and waving at us.”

Tomato glanced down at his phone. “Look. Any other day and I’d be fine with him messing around but we don’t have time for this. We’ve got classes tomorrow and we promised we’d have Beelington home before ten. I am not being yelled at by his mom again.”

Buck made an offended noise at him and was stomping his foot, unhappy with the nickname deigned because of his yellow and black striped top. He went at Tomato, fists waving around comedically. “Seriously, you have to go and bring that up again. Fuck you!”

“Just call his phone and tell him to come out.” Tomato held Buck at arms length as the smaller of the two of them tried to bop him on the head.

Bed walked away from the two of them and turned to face the house. He walked through the grass while pulling out his phone and began thumbing through his contact list before he found Criken’s name. He knew the ringtone that his friend had assigned him years ago and smiled as he could mentally picture ‘Banana phone’ playing while Criken was exploring the old house.

His smile slowly faded however as he heard it play, much closer than he had imagined. He looked down between his feet and saw the phone sitting there. It flashed his name on the front screen and Bed kneeled to pick it up. He glanced around the front yard confused and not seeing Criken at all, he looked back up at the house. Maybe Buck was right? Maybe he did go inside.

The phone sang for a bit more before it stopped and the screen flashed a ‘missed call’ message on the front. Bed was just in the motions of shoving the device into his back pocket when he noticed soot on his hand. He rubbed his fingers together and gave the phone a more critical look. It was a silver phone in a white case but now the entire thing was grey from being covered in a thin layer of some sort of ash.

“Well? Anything?” He almost jumped out of his skin and leapt to his feet to face Tomato. He tried to school his expression to one of calm but he could tell his friend knew that he had startled him. Tomato was looking down at the soot covered device in his hands. “Wait, is that his phone?”

“Yeah I found it in the grass. I think-” Bed swallowed, still trying to shake off his jittery nerves. Why did he suddenly feel so uneasy? “I think Buck is right. I think he might have gone inside.”

Tomato looked less than impressed by that and looked over his shoulder at Buck, his attention being drawn in his direction as he was riding the creaking gate back and forth in boredom. “Buck! Get over here, what is wrong with you?” He sighed and cracked his neck with a tilt of his head. “Alright, I guess that means we have to go in after his sorry ass.”

“Sorry ass?” Buck inquired, ducking under Tomato’s grip as he ran by to hop up the stairs. He turned back to face Bed who was now standing up and looking at the house with a cocked brow.

Tomato grumbled and shoved his hands in his pocket, committing to going into the house with Buck. “Yeah, as in he’s going to be real sorry for making me come in there after him.” He grabbed the handle and twisted it, pushing it open with his other hand. Once it was open, he took a deep breath and hollered into the house. “You hear me? I’m going to beat your ass if I get yelled at for making Buck miss his curfew again.”

“Again..” Bed smirked, wrapping an arm loosely around Buck’s shoulders as they walked in together. He glanced around the hallway and noted the two doors and the open doorway that led to the living room. There was an old stairwell to the left that looked like it had seen better days and the railing was hanging at an angle. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust and he brought a hand up to his face to waff it away.

“Where did you say you saw him?” Tomato looked around. He appeared nervous and was eyeing the doors with hesitation.

Buck let out a sneeze and wrinkled his nose, already sniffling again as the dust tickled his sinuses. “Upstairs.”

“Right.. I’ll go get him.” Tomato took the first step on the stairs and glanced over his shoulders at the other two. “If you hear him screaming, that’ll be because I’ll be ringing him by the neck.”

He didn’t wait for a response from Bed or Buck and took the steps slow upwards, teeth clenched with every creak. He really hoped that they wouldn’t collapse beneath him but hey, if Criken made it up alright, he should be able to as well. His hand ran over the railing that was still smooth despite its age and he took note of how the dust seemed to be cleared off it, like someone had been there recently.

Once at the top, Tomato glanced around the second floor hallway. He saw the curtains covering the round window and shifted them to look outside. From where he was, he could see the yard and the front street through the old iron gate. “So this is where Buck saw him..” He murmured to himself, letting the curtains fall back into place before turning to walk down the old dusty hall. It was getting progressively darker now that the window was covered again and he had to pull out his phone to light the way.

Tomato tried the two doors in the hall and jiggled the handles to find them locked. The wood was so old, he’d probably be able to break it down with a hard kick if he needed to. Best save that as a last resort though. He didn’t need to add property damage to the list of things he shouldn’t have done today. The hallway was in the shape of an ‘L’ and Tomato took note of two more doors as he came around the corner.

He tried the first one on the left but no dice, the handle wouldn’t even turn. It was locked but looked like it could take a key. The other door did yield to him a bit, opening up just a crack before a safety chain kept it from going further. He applied more pressure to the door but was only rewarded with creaking wood. He couldn’t get it to yield under the force of his push so he shone his light in to see what he was missing.

It looked like some sort of art room. There was a painting easel in the centre facing towards a chair covered in a white blanket. There was a basket filled with decaying flowers of all types and the sickly sweet fragrant hit him even from there. He gagged and shut the door again. “Fucking hell.. Who puts a chain bolt on an art room?”

He walked to the end of the hall and took another right before coming up to two more doors and a familiar looking window. “What-” Tomato sped up his pace and approached it, throwing back the curtains to see the front of the house. The front yard and the gate looked exactly as he had seen it two moments ago but that was impossible. He had only gone around one corner, he should be facing the back of the house not back where he started. Or at least, he would assume he was back at the start if the stairwell was where it had been when he first came up to the second floor.

But it wasn’t there. There was a space where it should be it was just flat wooden flooring now. “No no no.. Fuck it, you’re losing it.” Tomato murmured to himself, taking off in a dead bolt down the hallway. He came around the corner and there it was again. A round window and flat portion of the floor beside it.

He snarled deep in his throat and ran around the corner again, his feet thudding heavily on the floor as he tore around the hallway once more. He was right back where he had started. “No… no. no no… What the fuck is this?”

Tomato took two trembling steps back and tried to calm his racing thoughts. He lifted his phone in front of him and called Bed’s number. It rang and it rang and to his horror, he could hear the ringtone in the wall next to him. His eyes went wide in horror and he glanced around, not seeing his friends around him and feeling genuinely terrified for the first time in his life. He walked around the corner and followed the wall, trying to figure out a way to get to the other side when the phone stopped ringing.

“Oh no you don’t.” He clicked ‘redial’ and the phone started to sing again through the wall. Around that corner was the door that he had passed by earlier. It had been locked before but now it was open, the flashing light of a cellular device blinking further in the room as it continued to ring. Tomato approached the door just as it stopped making noise and the hallway went dark without the light from the screen. “Come on..: He whispered and redialed Bed’s number one more time.

He watched the light flash again and lifted his hand to the touch the door when he heard a click as the call finally connected. Tomato looked at his phone in confusion but saw the seconds ticking by on the screen. He couldn’t hear anything on the other line and took a shaky breath, his fingers still extending outwards to touch the door. “H-hello? Bed, is that you? I need your help. I went upstairs and now I can’t get out. The stairs, they- ”

The door slowly eased open at his shove just as sounds started to come from the phone. Not a voice. Not Bed. But a note, followed by another and another. It was a piano playing and Tomato felt the cold breath behind him just as the tears gathered in his eyes.

***

Buck had flopped himself onto the couch in the living room and wrapped his arms around one leg, pulling it close to his chest in a nervous habit. “Shit man, Criken is in for it when Tomato finds him.”

“Yeah.” Bed agreed with him, while pacing circles in the centre of the room. He had a furrow to his brow and held up Criken’s phone next to his, comparing the two of them. “What I don’t understand is why Criken left his phone outside. You never see him without it.”

“Maybe he dropped it?” Buck inquired with a shiver. He rubbed his arms with both hands and clacked his teeth together.

“That’s highly unlikely. You and I know what he’s like. He practically lives and breathes through his phone.”

Bed stopped his pacing before something caught his attention. “Huh..” He hummed curiously and walked further into the living room to the attached dining room. He eyed a gorgeous vintage piano pushed into a corner, almost unseen from the dark cover thrown over it. How could something like this have stayed untouched for so long in an abandoned house?

“What’s that?” Buck was leaning forward in his seat but he still looked too comfortable on the dusty couch to move.

“I’ve never seen a piano like this before.” Bed removed the cover and let it fall to the ground. He sat on the bench and lifted the lid covering the keys. He was about to blow the dust off the keys when his eyes noticed something. All the keys were grey from an ashy substance but across several of the keys there we clean circular marks. They looked like they had been left behind by fingers.

Bed counted them in his head and found himself spacing his hand out to appropriately cover the marked notes. He pressed down with his thumb then his right index finger. The tone that came from the piano was a somber one but seemed to reverberate throughout the house. It was a sad tune that poured forth from Bed as he played it, eyes shut as he was focused on the task at hand.

“Hey, I didn’t know you played.” Buck complimented with a clap of his hands. He was about to give a standing ovation when he saw Criken standing in the hallway staring at him. He choked on the dusty air from the sharp intake of breath and teared up as he coughed. “Holy fuck, you scared the shit out of me..”

Criken stood there not saying a thing. He had an impartial expression on his face and his eyes looked strange behind his glasses. The room was still filling with the sound of music and he seemed to sway in place as he turned to look at Bed.

“Criken..? Where’s Tomato?” As if timed perfectly, the minute that question left Buck he heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. He looked over to see Tomato coming down the steps slowly.

The redhead was looking forward and didn’t acknowledge Buck as he passed in front of him, only stopping once he was next to Criken. He teetered on the spot and his head lulled to the side to eye Bed sitting at the piano.

Buck found the whole situation confusing and followed Tomato’s gaze over to their friend who was still playing the haunting tune that had suddenly gotten louder. He could see Bed’s shoulders shudder and he let out a choked noise. “Bed?! What wrong?”

In response to that, Bed jolted up suddenly from his seat and the bench he was sitting on clattered loudly to the ground. That followed by the silence afterwards was nerve wracking. There was a brief shuffling and Bed rotated on an axis to face Buck. There were tears streaming down his cheeks and he looked far from conscious, with dark empty eyes that couldn’t seem to focus on anything around him.

Buck took a step back and that motion was followed by Criken and Tomato. “W-what’s wrong with all of you.” He didn’t get a response and the dead look in his friend’s eyes had him shaking in horror. “What’s wrong with you!?! Why won’t you answer me?”

Bed had walked over as he yelled and stood next to Criken. The three of them looking at him with blank, unfocused eyes. Once they were side by side, they began a slow pace of moving forward, closing the distance between them and Buck.

“No, get away from me!” Buck yelled and struggled as Criken reached forward and he bit at his hand. Bed had gone for his left side and he threw his legs out, squirming like his life depended on it. He had no idea what had happened to his friends but from the looks of things, his life did depend on it. “Stop this Criken.. Bed, please!”

Tomato reached both hands towards his throat but he ducked under him and went between his legs, using their slow zombie-like pace to maneuver away from them. He saw the front door and dove for it, scurrying as quickly as he could across the threshold as he could manage. His foot caught in an old board and he slammed his knee into the wood painfully. His jeans made a tearing noise as he went tumbling forward down the front steps till he was sprawled out on the grass.

It took a few seconds for his vision to clear and he looked up to see his friends standing in the hallway of the house looking down at him but not coming closer. “Guys…” He sniffled, a hand curling around his bloodied knee and he watched with trembling lips as the door closed of its own accord, leaving his friends trapped within its walls.

“Oh god, oh god..” He repeated like a mantra, heaving himself off the grass. Buck ran from the property and threw open the gate without looking back. He didn’t need to take a glance to know that they were probably watching him from that second floor window. His heart raced and his chest hurt but he didn’t stop till he made it home. He recognized the painted mailbox and Christmas lights hanging off the roof.

“Mom, mom.. Open up..” Buck banged loudly on the door. He was way past his curfew and his mother had locked the door so she would know when he got home. “Please, I’m sorry I was late.. B-but my friends..”

“Please..” He sobbed against the door, fists weakly pounding on its surface in despair. He heard the sound of a latch being unlocked and he perked up at that. Buck wiped away the tears with the back of his sleeve and forced the door open, running inside without a second thought. He didn’t care how mad his mom was with how late he was. He’d take any punishment if it meant getting help for his friends.

Buck threw himself forward into his mother’s arms and continued to cry. He sobbed until their were no more tears left to cry and he pulled back to take in the state of himself. His eyes went wide as he saw black sooty stains all over his clothes and down the front of him. There was ash on his arms and his hands and he looked up in confusion, wondering where it came from. Fear struck him at the sight of Bed, not his mother standing there holding him.

“Bed… H-how..” The words died in his throat and he yanked himself back from the limp arms that had enclosed around him. Buck looked around terrified and saw the broken down stairwell to his left, the living room with the dusty couch to his right and Bed covered in black soot standing before him.

He shook his head and backed up, hands going up to his face to hold in the dry sobs but his path was blocked by a firm body behind him. Buck felt a hand fall on both of his shoulders and he looked up to see Criken and Tomato standing there behind him. They tightened their grip on him and pushed him deeper into the house, away from the safety of outside. The door started to close. “Please.. No.. no..”

As his eyes went wide in terror and the door slowly completed its transition, he could hear it from the living room. The piano was playing by itself now. It was that same tune Bed had been playing. That slow, sad tune that sounded so familiar and somber.

It reminded him of something he had lost so long ago. But he couldn’t remember what it was. It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t recall what it was. It felt so far away from him.

He needed to go further.

***

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, remember Goosebumps? Man those books were best. Literally my childhood was spent on Goosebumps and Animorphs. Good books, great memories. I think my favourite one was the "Beast from the east" 
> 
> What were your favs?


End file.
